JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $103.30 Million Stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 644,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 193,880 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.97% of AptarGroup worth $103,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup by 43.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,182,000 after purchasing an additional 34,573 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in AptarGroup by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,066,000 after buying an additional 12,271 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AptarGroup by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,444,000 after buying an additional 83,452 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after acquiring an additional 212,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in AptarGroup by 29.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after acquiring an additional 479,193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE ATR opened at $157.10 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $168.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.67. The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.15. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.29 and a 1 year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.60, for a total transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total value of $162,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.00.

About AptarGroup

AptarGroup, Inc designs and manufactures a range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing, and active material science solutions and services for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home care, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures segments.